Medieval

Medieval

The story of 14th century Czech icon and warlord Jan Zizka who defeated armies of the Teutonic Order and the Holy Roman Empire.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Drama, History
  • Stars: Ben Foster, Sophie Lowe, Til Schweiger, Matthew Goode, Roland Møller, Michael Caine, William Moseley, Karel Roden, Jan Budař, Marek Vašut, Ondřej Vetchý, Vinzenz Kiefer, Magnus Samuelsson, Werner Daehn, Jennifer Armour, Sean Connor Renwick, Roman Šebrle, Alistair Brammer, David Bowles, Christopher Rygh, Guy Roberts, Martin Kavan, Viktor Krištof, Filip Antonio, Aneta Kernová, Romana Jákl Vítová, Denisa Pfauserová, Kevin Bernhardt, Zhang Lang, Václav Jiráček, Brian Caspe, Petr Vágner, Ben Cristovao
  • Director: Petr Jákl
 Comments
  • hlsj1968 - 26 July 2023
    Could've been so much better
    I consider this a decent movie, but, with actors like Ben Foster (the only reason I watched the movie), Michael Caine, Til Schweiger, Matthew Goode and Sophie Lowe this could've been a blockbuster. It felt so disconnected, it just didn't flow. The acting was phenomenal, which is the only reason I gave it a 6. The characters were very interesting and with the history, at the time, there is so much more they could have done with this movie. You really couldn't tell who the characters were, what they were about, or, what they were even fighting for, until about a third of the way into the film. Ben Foster's character (Jan Ziska) had very little dialogue and I understand being a man of few words, but, this is a movie. In my opinion, the directing and editing is what failed this film.
  • adrodog - 21 March 2023
    Could have been a masterpiece
    Definitely worth watching as the cinemotography is so striking and it's visually stunning.

    Good cast as well, Ben Fosters understated performance holds the film well.

    The story just didn't quite hit the mark for me - I didn't really get the significance of Catherine nor the politics of Rosenberg and the King and in the end it was just a little fuzzy which meant the really climactic battle scenes and ending kind of lost its meaning no matter how great it looked.

    I'm sad for the film because honestly, if the story was put together better this could have been amazing - it's such a well made and shot film, not to mention that Jan Zizka was a real commander. Alot of people complained about audio issues but it didn't really bother me much. Thought the soundtrack was good as well.
  • rasto007 - 13 January 2023
    What a pitiful plot
    The plot of the movie has nothing to do with life of Zizka. It just takes names of historic people and uses them for a simple and predictable plot. Based on real events is a gross overstatement.

    The actors did their best with what they had at their disposal. However, most of characters having zero personality, inch deep, black and white.

    Lack of depth is compensated by brutality. The main characters are portrayed as medieval Bruce Willises who can take lethal beating, shake it off and continue fighting. This should be put under a category of fairy tales.

    I guess that is how a historic movie looks like when it is directed by a PE teacher.
  • ted-52 - 1 January 2023
    If you loved Black Adam, this film might not be for you
    Overall, a nice film with a solid cast and great photography. The plot and the dialogues are decent, the action scenes are well shot and yes there is a lot of gore, but it serves the purpose of putting the spectator into a gloomy mood and in my opinion doesn't feel over the top.

    For the audio issues, some people are mentioning, indeed there are some scenes where the audio is off, but those segments are few and far between.

    At the time of writing, this film rates less than super-boring super-hero films like Black Adam, a sign of the times I guess.

    Do yourself a favor and watch this film, if it doesn't captivate you from the first half hour, then it's not meant for you, but the ratings are too harsh.
  • juiceondastix - 10 December 2022
    Amazing action and guided quest
    This movie starts if hectic and never stops. One hell of a ride / watch. Felt like I was watching a legit quest on the most difficult setting. I'm not sure why this movie doesn't have more stars. If you're not into historic time period action, you're probably more suited for vanilla Jason Bourne flicks, this brings much more substance. The battle scenes are absolutely epic and strategic, they will have you thinking like a general on the battlefield. It was also a great history lesson. I had no idea this bro was a legit general, I read even more into his history and battles after watching this movie. Very well done!
  • Drawmort - 26 November 2022
    Great direction and photography, but weak story.
    The film stands out for its brutal action, direction and photography.

    The photography is beautiful. The lighting work is very well done, especially in natural spaces, even at night. There are good aerial shots although there is a point where this gets a bit repetitive. Other shots are spectacular, full of very good transitions and camera movements, which bring out its director. Action sequences are brutally good. The production design shines too, with its locations.

    Editing fails. Unbalanced rhythm and pace. The story is interesting, but the denouement of the film falls apart. There are a couple of character endings that while predictable, would be expected to be different, to support the entire arc of the movie.

    The film has nothing to envy to the great medieval series of the last time.
  • jollyjumpup - 8 November 2022
    Flawed But Decent Medieval Epic
    I was excited to see a major production based on early Central European history. There have been monumental wars and epic battles in the Western Slavic states, but they've been largely overlooked by Hollywood producers and most of the past local productions were budgetarily challenged.

    Unfortunately, what should have been an engrossing slice of history was reduced to a series of thrilling battle scenes and a thin romantic drama between the hero and his captive princess. When Zizka pipes up with a rousing third act rallying speech it's clear this was meant to be a Czech Braveheart. With a little more focus it might have been.

    The look of the film is fantastic. Gorgeous cinematography, great period locations and costumes, including plenty of authentic looking armor and convincing peasant garb. The only distracting visual was one character's modern buzzcut, obviously done with electric clippers.

    The international cast is very good but the array of accents was hard to ignore. Everything from harsh American to lilting Scandinavian, Slavic, British and German. No big problem though.

    What really brings the movie down is the soundtrack. The final mix is absolutely horrendous. Literally 90% of the time when a character opens their mouth to speak, the music swells dramatically as if deliberately trying to drown out the dialog. I quickly gave up trying to decipher whatever exposition or character intros were buried under the pseudo-angelic chorals. Even more frustrating, the production tracks were clearly well-recorded, they were just lost in the sloppy soaring mix.

    If you like brutal knightly action you'll find plenty to enjoy in this romp. If it's history you crave, you'll find it a bit sketchy.